All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self-evident.-Arthur Schoepenhauer
By Craig McKee
Why is it that ignorance and unjustified pride seem to go so well together?
Over the past two days, I’ve been knocking a few ideas around with some fellow Facebook enthusiasts concerning the 11th anniversary of everyone’s favorite fake terrorist attack. From the brilliant quote above, I got the ridicule and the violent opposition, but that was it.
Thanks to the wonderful anonymity of this “social” media site, I had the chance to trade insults with people I have never even met! Talk about progress. When you know people, it’s harder to dislike them. But when you only know them from their moronic put-downs on Facebook, there’s Continue reading
Category Archives: conspiracy theories
Contrived ridicule of conspiracy theories really means ‘Stop questioning, stop thinking’
“Now it’s conspiracy – they’ve made that something that should not even be entertained for a minute, that powerful people might get together and have a plan. Doesn’t happen, you’re a kook, you’re a conspiracy buff!” – George Carlin
August 15, 2012
By Craig McKee
Every time someone makes fun of the idea of “conspiracy theories” they are exhibiting a conditioned response – like salivating when they hear a bell or believing a TV news program.
When someone asks me if I’m into conspiracy theories, I like to steal from Michael Moore and say, “Only the ones that are true.”
When I’m feeling a bit more energetic, I explain to this person that I’m interested in facts and evidence, and that the label “conspiracy theory” has been deliberately turned into a joke to Continue reading
Fear of ‘ridicule’ leads to damaging partition of 9/11 Truth movement
By Craig McKee
The 9/11 Truth movement is fighting a war – but it’s only wounding itself.
Self-appointed “credibility cops” have made it their mission to act as antibodies in the Truth movement’s immune system, seeking out and destroying harmful ideas, individuals, and alliances they think threaten the survival of the host. The idea is to rid the movement of any area of research that might contaminate it and invite public ridicule.
But is the cure worse than the disease?
The exaggerated need to control all aspects of the message is working against us. We have become so Continue reading
More absurd arguments on the Pentagon: ‘propaganda team’ sets its sights on Griffin
July 16, 2012
By Craig McKee
The co-ordinated group that wants the Pentagon out of the 9/11 truth discussion has won some key victories to be sure. But there’s one battle they haven’t won, and it really bugs them.
The group I described in my recent post, ‘Propaganda team’ uses contrived Pentagon fight to derail 9/11 Truth movement (Kevin Ryan, David Chandler, Frank Legge, Jonathan Cole, Jim Hoffman, John Bursill, and others) can’t stand the fact that David Ray Griffin continues Continue reading
Media and the 9/11 cover-up: BBC accused of breaking its own fairness rules
By Craig McKee
The first time I walked into the offices of my university newspaper to offer my services, I noticed a slogan on the wall that read: “Don’t cover the news, UNcover it.”
That distinction appealed to every idealistic bone in my body. There were 206 of them then, give or take. Things have settled a bit since, but I’m still idealistic to a fault. Even so, my expectations of the mainstream media – at least when it comes to the big picture items – can’t get much lower.
Instead of uncovering the news, now I’d settle for: “Don’t cover it up.” Continue reading
Diverse voices make Vancouver Hearings messy but intriguing
June 19, 2012
By Craig McKee
There was definitely no “party line” at the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings.
The opinions offered by 19 presenters over three days were diverse, with some openly disagreeing with each other both in their presentations and in question-and-answer sessions. Some may feel that the lack of a common front at these hearings was a problem; I don’t think that’s true.
One thing that was clear from the outset was that organizers Jim Fetzer (pictured above) and Joshua Blakeney were making no effort to emulate last September’s Toronto 9/11 Hearings – apart from the quasi-judicial structure. Where Toronto was safe and controlled, Vancouver was unpredictable Continue reading
Pushing boundaries: 9/11 Vancouver Hearings embrace controversy
By Craig McKee
In Toronto, we saw the conservative approach to examining 9/11 evidence. In Vancouver we’re going to see something quite different.
In stark contrast to last September’s Toronto Hearings into the Events of September 11, 2001, the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings will pursue the truth wherever that leads, according to co-organizer Joshua Blakeney. The stated mission of the hearings, which start tomorrow, is to “push the boundaries of 9/11 truth.”
In an interview this week, Blakeney, Canadian correspondent for Press TV and staff writer at Veterans Today, said the Vancouver Hearings will explore a number of areas that Toronto wouldn’t touch or only briefly addressed.
One is the question of whether a plane crash was faked at the Pentagon. Another is whether there is merit in some of the more Continue reading
‘Propaganda team’ uses contrived fight to derail 9/11 Truth movement
May 21, 2012
By Craig McKee
It has been a very good year for the small but relentless group that wants evidence of a faked plane crash at the Pentagon on 9/11 taken off the table.
The group has scored a series of victories in recent months that have hurt the Truth movement and created a “lowest-common-denominator” approach to evidence and to building the case against the official story.
The clique in question includes Kevin Ryan, David Chandler, Jonathan Cole, Frank Legge, Jim Hoffman, Victoria Ashley, Chris Sarns, Justin Keogh, Michael Wolsey, Gregg Roberts, Erik Larson, and several others who have become “respectable” members of the movement (we know they are because they regularly endorse each other and cite each other’s “research”).
For a decade, we’ve seen an orchestrated and determined effort by this small clique to steer the 9/11 Truth Continue reading
Two quit in protest after Zarembka dumped from Consensus 9/11 Panel
May 2, 2012
By Craig McKee
Two members of David Ray Griffin’s Consensus 9/11 Panel have quit in protest following the dismissal of fellow member Paul Zarembka.
Journalist and author Barrie Zwicker and Pilots For 9/11 Truth core member Shelton Lankford resigned from the Panel last week in solidarity with Zarembka (author of The Hidden History of 9-11) and over disagreements the three have with Griffin and Panel co-founder Elizabeth Woodworth about how the project is being administered.
“I felt Paul’s treatment was kind of a last straw,” Lankford said in an interview. “For me the Consensus Panel process was functioning as a gatekeeper, and evidence deemed controversial was not going to be Continue reading
Gage concedes his entry into 9/11 Pentagon ‘quagmire’ has been divisive
By Craig McKee
Richard Gage admits that his pronouncements on the Pentagon research of Citizen Investigation Team have done more harm than good.
Since he first waded into the debate two-and-a-half years ago, the founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth has taken plenty of heat from people on all sides of the question of whether a 757 hit the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Gage now feels he should never have gotten involved – and most people agree with him.
“Entering into and rendering a recommendation and then withdrawing that recommendation ended up really stirring the pot Continue reading